Brian Walton's news and commentary on the St. Louis Cardinals (TM) and their minor league system

Several Rays adopt Cardinals old-school stirrups

Several of the Tampa Bay Rays are modeling hose in the Brendan Ryan, old-school St. Louis Cardinals look.

After a St. Louis Cardinals loss the other night, I switched channels to MLB Network to catch up on action across the majors. It turned out their broadcast of the Tampa Bay Rays game was in its final innings.

Catcher Kelly Shoppach was at the plate for the Rays. He was going old school with high socks and stirrups that looked very familiar. The broadcasters told the story that the Rays equipment manager was asked by some of the players and manager Joe Maddon, a long-time Cardinals fan, to come up with Cardinals-like hose – in their blue colors, of course.

The Tampa Bay player in the photo is infielder Sean Rodriguez, who happens to be the son of Quad Cities manager Johnny Rodriguez.